


guarded

by buttered_onions



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, smol fic in every way, smol!Shiro, so gen it will rot your teeth, tinyadventureszine, zine contribution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 06:39:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14889548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buttered_onions/pseuds/buttered_onions
Summary: Shiro gets a much-deserved nap. Written for tinyadventureszine on tumblr.





	guarded

**Author's Note:**

> This little piece was written in collaboration with the amazing [bringembers,](https://bringembers.tumblr.com) who created the wonderful art linked herein. Created back in January, these pieces were a part of the [tinyadventureszine,](https://tinyadventureszine.tumblr.com) a platonic zine focusing on the paladins as kids. It was a pleasure to participate! Please enjoy this very smol piece.
> 
> Alien species credit to my dear friend [gitwrecked](http://gitwrecked.tumblr.com).

“I can’t believe you got him to sleep,” Lance whispers, loudly.

Keith shrugs in response, a casual roll of one shoulder. The four Paladins cluster in the doorway to the nursery - an actual _nursery_ , much to Lance’s complete surprise - peering in through the wide opening. The Castle’s nursery is well equipped, at least now that the dust has been blown off or laundered away. Every supply the current emergency could want or wish for is present: spare clothes tucked neatly away on shelves, entire cases of holopad-books lining the far walls, cheerful colored rugs brightening the space beneath a comfortable rocking chair, well padded and full with plump pillows. Warm artificial light shines gently through the window and onto the wide sill, welcoming and serene. Allura had stacked the round plushies on the windowsill herself, graceful fingers hovering nostalgically over the red one until Coran had finished for her, calmly aligning the black plush into place on top of the five-deep pile.

Their care has gone unremarked by the room’s primary occupant. Shiro has yet to even notice the plush friends stacked on the sill, or the whole plethora of other stuffed animals waiting for his young perusal. He’s asleep just as Keith promised, curled up in the comfortable security of the frankly-enormous Voltron plush. His breathing is soft and slow, the peaceful glow of hopefully-happy dreams relaxing the curves of his sweet baby cheeks.

He is so absolutely adorable that Lance can barely stand it.

“It wasn’t hard,” Keith says, softly. “He went down easily enough. Any word from the Cardexians?”

“The Calexians,” Pidge corrects, from the other side of the open doorframe. Hunk peeks in above her hair, an easy feat. Shiro sleeps on. “Allura says they’re awfully sorry. To be fair, though, none of them were expecting their dessert to have this kind of effect on a human. We’re lucky only Shiro ate it.”

“ ‘Lucky’,” Lance quips. “Uh-huh.”

“The rest of the meal was so good,” Hunk groans.

“They’d better be sorry,” Keith mutters, but the threat is half-hearted. Shiro sleeps on inside the room, lips parted, face soft. Adorable baby cheeks aside, with his hair completely dark and the scar gone, Shiro’s unfortunate regression is a true and utter reversion all the way down to something so - so _young,_ really. Unfortunate, maybe, but - not, at the same time. There’s no other way to describe this. The difference - not just in size, but in the _peace_ radiating from little Shiro’s face - is so stark that it takes Lance’s breath away. Something tight unravels in his chest, blooms near his heart.

Hunk squints into the room, frowning. “I can’t believe Allura had that thing in storage.”

“That ‘thing’ is awesome,” Lance corrects, delighted. Like everything else in the room, the giant Voltron plush hadn’t needed any sort of repair beyond the brushing off of a thick layer of dust. “I’m taking it back to my room when this is over, calling dibs right now.”

“It won’t fit in your room, Lance,” Hunk says, patiently.

Pidge’s glasses gleam over her grin. “It will if Lance lets me have the Mercury Gameflux II.”

“Not on your _life,”_ Lance starts -

“Shhh,” Keith hisses.

The four of them turn back quickly, but Shiro only stirs in his sleep, twitching his little legs with the smallest, quietest of gurgles. He rolls over a bit, settling more comfortably into the yellow leg of the giant Voltron.

“He has such good taste,” Hunk sighs, fond.

“Only because he can’t sleep on an arm,” Pidge cackles, elbowing Keith across the open doorway.

“Go away if you’re gonna be loud,” Keith protests, without heat. His half-smile is sincere. “Help Allura talk to the Carlexians or something.”

“Calexians,” Lance choruses, with Pidge. “You’d make us miss a second of this?”

__

_(art by[bringembers](https://bringembers.tumblr.com/post/174729196926/heres-my-tinyadventureszine-piece-collab-with))_  

The soft artificial light of a warm spring dusk beams peacefully in through the window, illuminating the small scene and its quiet, perfect stillness. Shiro sighs, lips curling up in the tiniest of smiles, asleep in the shadow of the Voltron plush. Whatever dream he’s having must be a good one. Lance smiles, too.

“Are we _sure_ we have to turn him back today?” Hunk asks, plaintively.

Keith draws in a slow breath. “Shiro can’t stay like this forever -”

“Not forever, just a day,” Hunk interrupts, gesturing across the rest of the room with his hands. “Think of all the fun we could have!”

“All the books we could read,” Pidge piggybacks, eagerly.

“All the games we can play,” Lance agrees, seizing on the idea fast. “That room’s stuffed full of toys, Keith, you can’t tell me Shiro wouldn’t have a good time!”

“And he’s so peaceful and cute and calm,” Hunk points out, beaming. “C’mon, Keith. Please?”

Keith hesitates. The artificial sunlight filters through the few remaining dust motes, a slow and peaceful dance in the quiet air. The light is gentle across the curve of Shiro’s little cheeks, soft over the bridge of his perfect little nose. Shiro sighs in his sleep again, content.

“You can have dibs on the rocking chair,” Pidge whispers, gleefully. Keith’s eyes flit to the chair tucked into the corner of the room, as comfortable and as oversized as the Voltron plush currently keeping watch over their dearest friend.

“Only until he wakes up,” Keith agrees, finally, and the group files in to wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave a comment if you enjoyed, or pop over to visit me on [tumblr](http://butteredonions.tumblr.com). See you soon!


End file.
